Unmaking a bully: Watch the video

Russell rips the paper out of the boy’s hand and wads it up. He kicks a boy as he’s tying his shoelaces, knocking him over. He steals milk from classmates at lunch.

Although this Russell is fictional, he is a bully, as old-fashioned as he is modern. His type has been around forever making fun of kids, calling names, intimidating, punching.

But Russell met his match when students at Glendaal Elementary School in Scotia teamed up earlier this year with Mike Feurstein, a filmmaker who serves as a teacher’s aide, to make an anti-bullying video in which they confront Russell, and he begins to reconsider his actions. The 27-minute film “How to UnMake A Bully” was so well-received that Feurstein and the students are planning a sequel.

It’s part of a schoolwide effort to build community by dealing with problems that plague the students.

“Unfortunately, bullying is one of the issues that comes up at school,” says Cindy Skala, the school’s social worker, who consulted on the film. “Bullying is nothing new, but attitudes about it have changed. Some of those things that were accepted as part of the norm aren’t as accepted as part of the norm any longer.”

“Now, our hope is to teach children not only the academic skills in school but also those social skills: How do we get along together? How do we build a more successful community? How do we work together? These are skills kids can use throughout their lifetime.”

They’re learning them through the lens of Feurstein, the filmmaker from Schenectady. Stan Davis, a school counselor in Sidney, Maine, who wrote the book “Schools Where Everyone Belongs: Practical Strategies for Reducing Bullying,” says involving students in the process of teaching is the best way for them to learn.

“It’s important to do this in kids’ voices and to listen to what kids have to say,” Davis says. “Simply telling kids these behaviors are bad and here’s what you should do about them is not a real effective strategy for getting things to change. Adults can’t really know the reality the kids are dealing with.

“Kids are much better at defining what’s going on than we are. And when kids see that other kids feel the same way, meaning they don’t like the mean behavior either, then they’re much more likely to change it. Sometimes if kids don’t say anything, then other kids assume, ‘Well, I’m the only one who minds.’ When you know that other people mind, too, then it’s more possible to give support to people who are mistreated, and you watch your own words as well.”

Davis says initiatives such as this, when you get students involved, reduce bullying.

“At the school where I used to work, we surveyed kids every year, and they told us there was less of it going on,” he says. “When a school takes the issue seriously, including letting kids speak to each other through video or other means about how they want things to be, things can get a lot better.

“We’re not going to get the rate of bullying to zero. But certainly we can reduce the frequency of these behaviors, and we can reduce the harm they do.”

Filming of promos for sequel took place at Glendaal Elementary School playground. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Feurstein didn’t start out making a film that would approach a half hour in length. Thomas Eagan, the school’s principal, asked whether he’d be willing to film “a little skit” for the anti-bullying campaign. Feurstein recruited fourth- and fifth graders — a core group of a dozen — and they brainstormed different bullying scenarios. As he got into it, and the students got into it, the project grew.

“One of the kids came up with this great idea: What if we show — it’s 2008 — a kid being bullied, and then — it’s 2010 — we see that kid being a bully?” Feurstein says. “Lights went off. Bells went off. Then, when we started shooting, I’m looking through the lens and listening in the headphones, and I’m thinking, ‘This is really good.’ I knew something special was happening. And I knew it would go beyond just the school.”

Feurstein took the students’ stories and suggestions, along with those from Skala, the school’s social worker, and wrote a script in which three friends come up with ways of neutralizing the bully. The core group of students, who served as actors and crew, swelled to about 50 over the course of the filming. It took place on and off for three months, before and after school, at lunch and recess. Then Feurstein edited it.

Its initial screening on June 14 at the school was so highly anticipated that the Glenville town board declared it “Glendaal and Mr. Mike Feurstein Day.” Ten days later, it was shown at Scotia-Glenville High School.

Over the summer Feurstein submitted it to “Kids First! Coalition for Quality Children’s Media.” Based in Santa Fe, N.M., the nonprofit organization evaluates media for kids, including films. The verdict arrived this month.

“How to UnMake A Bully” received two out of three stars, which ranked it higher than the original “Toy Story.” One juror wrote:

“Demonstrates that each person has a responsibility to do the right thing. … This would make a great addition to any school’s curriculum on bullying, or on being a good member of the community. The best part is that it models positive behaviors and actions children can take to solve a problem. It also lets kids know that it’s OK to ask for help.”

Feurstein has already filmed promos for the sequel, which will focus on bystanders, and how they can help stop bullying — or encourage it by doing nothing. As with the first video, primary filming will take place after the first of the year.

The project so far has cost very little, Feurstein says, but he’d like to devote even more time to it if he could attract a backer.

“I have this pipe dream that I’d like to follow some our actors up through the years,” he says. “There are many topics to explore: bullying on the bus and how it carries over into classroom, violence, drugs, peer pressure, homosexuality. I would love to end up with a box set of CDs with useful tools that are age-appropriate, from elementary to high school.”

Expect young people to solve all their own problems or tell them not to ask adults for help.

Tell mistreated youth to “pretend it doesn’t bother you,” “just walk away,” or “tell them how you feel.” Although it can be valuable to empower young people to tell others to stop, this doesn’t always work. They need to know that then they should seek help from peers and adults.

Assemble students at school and tell them that bullying is wrong. That works no better than “just say no to drugs.”

Develop clear and consistent rules and interventions about acceptable and unacceptable student behavior.

Develop consensus among school staff members so they take action to discourage and interrupt low-level mean behavior before it becomes serious, and to intervene and stop biased speech or incidents of exclusion that can escalate into more serious problems.

Make it clear that reporting peer mistreatment is a responsibility for all students and not “tattling.”

Have formal and informal systems in place to support mistreated youth.

Develop a support system among students. Bullied students report that it’s most helpful when other students spend time with them, listen to them, encourage them, call them at home to offer support, help them get away from negative situations, and help them tell adults.

AWESOME. I resonated with this story. I my child experienced very similar bullying. He is in high school. Bullying there is on a whole other level. I hope to get something going in my community to raise awareness 365 days a year.